Uprising’s guest expert Courtney Morris, assistant professor of African American and women’s Studies at Penn State University and a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Rice University, analyzes today’s news headlines:

Three days of airstrikes in a massive drone operation in Yemen have resulted in dozens of extrajudicial assassinations. Reports by CNN and the Associated Press have revealed a campaign to kill what are apparently Yemeni militants using unmanned aerial vehicles dropping munitions. Anonymous Yemeni government officials, speaking to CNN, said the campaign was “massive and unprecedented.” Meanwhile the US, which routinely carries out such strikes in Yemen, has made no comment. It is assumed that the US is responsible for the series of strikes which have left at least 30 people dead. Click here for an Associated Press article about the story.

Today is the start of a federal hearing on a controversial union vote at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. In what some are calling “a stunning reversal,” the United Auto Workers withdrew its appeal of the vote early this morning. UAW President Bob King explained in a statement today, “The UAW is ready to put February’s tainted election in the rearview mirror and instead focus on advocating for new jobs and economic investment in Chattanooga.” The vote was marred with alleged interference from government officials. The union says it does not want a long-drawn out investigation by the National Labor Relations Board. Click here to read a USA Today article about the story.

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the former boxing champion who was wrongfully convicted in 1966 of a triple murder by an all-white jury, died at the age of 76 in Toronto early yesterday. Carter spent nearly 2 decades in prison before being exonerated. His case drew support from celebrities like Mohammad Ali, and inspired a song by Bob Dylan and an Oscar nominated film starring Denzel Washington. After his release Carter became an ardent advocate for wrongfully accused prisoners. In 2011 he wrote “Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom.” Click here to read CNN’s article about the story.

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On July 8, 2014, Israel launched air strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza, followed by a ground invasion. The ensuing fifty-one days of war left more than 2,200 people dead, the vast majority of whom were Palestinian civilians, including over 500 children. Intrepid journalist Max Blumenthal has just released a new book The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza.

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